November 10, 2015, 20:17 UTC+3KIEVDespite the truce the situation in eastern Ukraine is far from being peaceful as previously and is fraught with the conflict’s escalation at any time, the ministry's press service says

KIEV, November 10 /TASS/. Ukraine asks the United Nations to send its peacekeepers to Donbas, Leonid Golopatyuk, the head of the main department of military cooperation and peacekeeping operations of the Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff, during his working visit to the United Nations headquarters in New York, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry press service said on Tuesday.

"Golopatyuk stressed the need to deploy a United Nations international peacekeeping mission in eastern Ukraine since this issue is assuming vital importance at contemporary stage," the press service said in its statement.

"Ukraine has moral grounds to count on aid from the United Nations in such a difficult period of time," Golopatyuk said. He added that despite the truce the situation in eastern Ukraine is far from being peaceful as previously and is fraught with the conflict’s escalation at any time.

Golopatyuk recalled that in March the Ukrainian government officially asked the United Nations Security Council and the UN secretary-general to deploy a UN-led peacekeeping and security mission in eastern Ukraine. He noted the sending of UN peacekeepers to Ukraine could become an effective instrument of implementation of the Minsk agreements.

Golopatyuk stressed it was particularly important to continue the process of reforming the United Nations opportunities to effectively react to crisis challenges in the sphere of international security. "After its election as non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for 2016-2017, Ukraine will consider consolidation of the United Nations peacekeeping efforts as one of the key and priority areas of its work," the Ukrainian military said.

In February 2015, Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council decided to ask the United Nations to begin a peacekeeping operation in Ukraine. The Ukrainian side suggested deploying a peacekeeping mission along the line of contact in eastern Ukraine.